Raiffeisen pushes ahead with RZB in spite of fears for shareholders

By Ivan Anderzhanov

Management at Raiffeisen Internationals are pushing ahead with a merger with its unlisted Austrian parent RZB despite concern that minority shareholders may lose out in the deal.

The bank said they were intensively pursuing a merger, which would be put to shareholders at annual general meetings in July.

Analysts have said shareholders, who own 27% of Raiffeisen’s free float, could lose out when the final exchange ratio is negotiated.  The banks have employed auditors to provide opinions on the “relative valuation.”

Pre-tax profits at Raiffeisen fell by 74.3 % to €368m last year owing to a jump in bad debt its core central and eastern European markets. Operations in Ukraine posted a pre-tax loss of €203m last year due to almost €500m in provisioning for impairment losses.

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